Combined protractor and level.



PATENTED APR. '7, 1908.

H. E. GREGORY.

COMBINED PROTRACTOR AND LEVEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY9, 1907.

INVENTOH zuvegfl'. z'egiz A iTOHNE rs l a 4m,

UNITED STATES HARVEY ELMORE GREGORY,

OF FRUITVALE, CALIFORNIA.

COMBINED JPROTRACTOR AND LEVEL.

No. 883,798. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

' PatentedApril 7, 1908.

Application filed May 9, 1907. Serial No. 372,791.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY ELMORE GREGORY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fruitvale, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented an Im roved Combined Protractor and Level, of WhlCh the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The urpbse of this invention is to provide novel etalls of construction for a'oombined ,protractor andlevel, which are simple and practical, and very convenient in use, affordmg means for the speedy and exact du lica-. tion of the profile or contour of any 0 ject within its range of capacity, upon a flat surface of a er, Wood or other suitable material, an t hus enable the speedy and exact duplication in lineal delineation of the object thus copied.

A further object is to provide a novel instrument of the character indicated, which will facilitate the delineation or the counterpart of an ob'ect, such as a molding, carving,

as-relief or v ormation of a similar character, to serve as a guide for cutting out and forming from suitable material, an object of dupllcate shape, to fit neatly upon the article copied, an thus expedite such mechanical construction, as in the ordinary way invol es the expenditure of much *time and diflicult labor.

'The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts as is hereinafter described and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in wh1ch similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the instrument, showing the du lication of a molding upon a aper sheet; ig. 2 is a partly sectional p an view of the instrument in position for service; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged fra mentary and. artly sectional view of an en of a guide rod that is a detail of the invention.

The combination instrument briefly described, embodies a main beam 5, a flat coupling box 6, slidably mounted upon the mam beam, a cross beam 7 slidable in or on the cross beam at right-angles to the main beam, a longitudinally adjustable uide rod 8, and a spirit level 9 also mounte upon the cross beam for aiding the operator to maintain the cross beam in or near a horizontal plane, and

thus insure the accurate operation of the instrument.

The main beam 5 may be of any preferred length, and be formed of any suitable material; for the sake of lightness and strength hard Wood may be used with advantage. The body of the beam may be rectangular in cross section but as shown is referably a flat strip of greater width than t ickness, the parallel side edges thereof having op osite tongues 11, a, formed thereon and roun ed on their edges. The coupling box 6 is formed of plate metal or other available material and is rectangular in contour, the fiat body portion thereof having at each corner an integral flange disposed arallel with and spaced from the body 6 y an intervening web I). The coupling box 6 may be loosely fitted upon the main beam 5 so as to be adapted for a free sliding movement thereon from one end to the other. As shown, to in sure perfect freedom of longitudinal movement of the box 6 on the beam 5, four similar grooved pulleys c, are employed, each pulley being pivoted at a corner of the box between the body ortion and a respective flange b as is clear y shown in Fig. 2. The

space between the grooved peripheries of and a preferably less widt than that of the main beam 5. The cross beam 7 may be loosely mounted on the flat side of the coupling box 6, by cli plates or the like, but preferably and as s own, grooved pulleys d, are pivoted on the coupling box, by means of pivot studs (1 that have their ends firmly engaged with the body portion of the box, and with bracket arms d that are secured upon said body portion and have members spaced from the body 6 for reception of the pulleys in said spaces. As shown in Fig. 1, the peripheries of the pulleys d are so spaced apart in airs, that the cross beam 7 may be slidab y passed between the two pairs of the pulleys, and hold the beam disposed at right angles with the main beam 5, butfree to be end to end of said ceive the body of a guide rod 8, that is thus sup orted in a plane parallel with the body of t e cross beam 7 as is clearly shown in- Fig. 2. In a threaded axial perforation in each ost e, a set-screw e is inserted, and may lie adjusted to have binding contact with the guide rod 8, so that said rod may be slid endwise when released from the set screws and be projected. or retracted at either end of the cross beam 7, as may be found necessary in o erating the device, the rod being held by t e set screws at any point of longitudinal adjustment therefor.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a bent end 8 is formed or secured on one end of the rod 8; preferably this end portion or leg 8 is tapered, projects downwardly and is connected with the rod by forming a threaded perforation axially in the latter and providing a screw thread on the end of the leg, that connects therewith as appears at f in Fig. 3.

Upon the cross beam 7 near its center, two spaced posts g, g are erected, that are fiattened'sidewise and oppositely erforated in said flattened portions, pro ucing jaws which receive the end portions of a cylindrical case 9, that is the incasement for a spirit level tube h, of usual construction. The posts g, g are perforated to permit the free passage of the uide rod 8, therethrough. The case 9 is loose y embraced by the jaws on the posts g and these are permitted to receive rotatable adjustment therein, which enables the exposure of the bubble in the spirit holding tube h, when the instrument is given different positions, as for example,.

when the main beam 5 is held horizontally and the cross beam above it, or when these beams are so disposed that the main beam is in the cross beam 7, near either end thereof,

that is to be employed for transfer of the copy of a molding or the like upon a'paper sheet or tablet of any suitable material. If the obj ect to be duplicated is a fixture, such as a molding A shown for example in Fig. 1, the

will traverse the molding A, in a vertical plane toward and over the opposite edge of said molding. The operator while moving the coupling box 6 as explained, at the same time gently presses-the point of the guide rod on the molding, which will insure the exact duplication'in pencil marks of the configuration orprofile of the molding on the paper sheet C, it being of course necessary that the pencil ,10 be seated upon the paper. In some situations, the operation of the instrument may be better conducted by turns ing the instrument into such position as will dispose the'main beam 5 vertically and the cross beam horizontally, and as it is essential for accuracy in conducting the operation that the beam 7 be level on its edges, the spirit level 9 affords means for maintaining the beam in such a position. It is to be understood that the pulleys c and d maybe dispensed with, and the side walls of the coupling box be disposed close to the bars 5 and 7, so that said coupling box will hold the bars without objectionable looseness, but free to receive slidable adjustment.

It will be evident that the instrument will have a wide range of service, as by its use the fitting of one piece of material on other maa terial having an intricate design on the surface will be rendered easy and accurate, saving time and labor-in its execution. Furthermore, the instrument afiords means for the quick and exact duplication of the profile of a column, basrelief, statue, or, any carving that may be approached near enough to permit the proper application of the device thereto.

In some situations the bent leg 8 will be found convenient in service, enabling the application of the device upon surfaces that cannot be reached by the straight end of the guide rod 8.

In some cases it may be found desirable to hold the main beam 5 stationary on a table or the like, while the cross beam 7 and its attachments are moved for the execution of a duplicate drawing of an object; to this end two set-screws 'i, t are inserted through threaded perforations in the beam 5 near its and a coupling box slidable longitudinally thereon, of a cross beam slidable on the coupling box at right-an les with the main beam,

a guide rod longitu inally adjustable on the cross beam, and a tracing device carried by the cross beam near an end thereof.

2. The combination with a main beam having parallel side edges, a coupling box ssans's mounted on said beam, and means carried by said box that loosely engage said side edges, of a cross beam slidable longitudinally posed at right angles to the side edges on the main beam and adapted for longitudinal movement on the cou ling-box, a guide rod longitudinally adjusta le on the cross beam, and a leveling device mounted upon said cross beam.

4. The combination with a main beam having parallel side edges, a coupling box having grooved pulleys rotatable on said box and engaging the edges of the main beam, and set screws in the ends of the main beam,

of a cross beam having parallel side edges, I

grooved ulleys mounted rotatably on the coupl' 0x, and e a the ed es of the cross l ie am which is t h s gdapted for longitudinal movement at r' ht angles with the main beam, a guide ro longitudinally adjustable on the cross beam, a marking device carried by the guide rod and depending therefrom, and a leveling device mounted on the cross beam.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a suitable adjustable support, of a guide rod straight in the body, tapered at one end, having a threaded socket in the opposite end, and a leg having a threaded end that screws into the socket, and a depending member thereon that is pointed at its free end.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this spesxilfioation in the presence of two subscribin 'tnesses.

HARV Y ELMORE GREGORY.-

Witnesses:

G. O. WESTERMAN,

W. E. BROWN, Jr. 

